I visited Radiance in Salem a couple months back... just to browse. I love Aveda and was excited to see that there was one right around the corner from my home! I was not greeted - in fact, I'm not sure anyone even knew I was there! After a few minutes, a pleasant girl came to see how I was. She gave me a tour and she quickly settled my initial poor impression! I made a hair appointment for a couple of weeks from then. I should've stuck with my inital impression. The attitude and energy in there was fierce. The "team" if that's what you want to call them didn't seem to mesh and it was all over their faces. It honestly made me feel uncomfortable. Oh, the haircut was fine, nothing wrong there. When I went to check out there were to employees arguing and one stormed out the door right in front of me. The other, left standing apologized and walked away. As a teacher, I honestly felt like I was in a room with my freshman students. I paid and although it may seem nice to some that they do not accept gratuity, I would rather go to a place that accepts it and I get the service that I want to reward. This whole no-tipping thing is bizarre to me, gratuity is a way of saying that you loved, liked, or didn't approve of a service - but when I'm told that it's not accepted at all... it makes me a bit unsettled to think that perhaps if the were able to receive it - I may have gotten the service I paid for!

Anyway, it's back to the drawing board to find that Aveda attitude on the North Shore!